5Th AACTA Awards Nominations Announced
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MEDIA RELEASE Strictly embargoed until 6am Thursday 29 October 2015 BOX OFFICE SUCCESS BOLSTERED BY AACTA AWARD NOMINATIONS FOR AUSTRALIA’S TOP FILMS OF 2015 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) announces Feature Film, Television, Visual Effects or Animation and remaining Documentary nominations for the 5th AACTA Awards presented by Presto. SYDNEY - In a year of record box office success for Australian films, taking more than $65 million locally to date, speculation about which films would be nominated for Australia’s top screen Awards has been buzzing. Today the wait is over, with AACTA announcing that a total of 11 Australian feature films have received nominations. The five vying for the coveted AACTA Award for Best Film Presented by Presto are: THE DRESSMAKER, a comedic drama celebrating revenge and setting wrongs right in 1950s Australia; HOLDING THE MAN, a funny yet heart-breaking story of two men in love despite the height of 1980s prejudice; LAST CAB TO DARWIN, an uplifting drama about a dying man which shows it’s never too late to start living; MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, seeing the MAD MAX juggernaut continue with an explosive post-apocalyptic Road War; and PAPER PLANES, the story of a young boy’s Quest to compete in the World Paper Plane Championships. AACTA today also announced that a total of 31 television productions have received nominations for the 5th AACTA Awards presented by Presto, with PETER ALLEN – NOT THE BOY NEXT DOOR (Seven Network), DEADLINE GALLIPOLI (FOXTEL - Showcase), THE SECRET RIVER (ABC), REDFERN NOW – PROMISE ME (ABC) and BANISHED (FOXTEL - BBC First) making the top-five most nominated productions. Feature length documentary nominees were announced in July, with all remaining documentary nominations announced today. A total of 11 documentaries are competing for Awards, with the following today announced as nominees for the AACTA Award for Best Documentary Television Program Presented By FOXTEL Movies: BETWEEN A FROCK AND A HARD PLACE (ABC); THE CAMBODIAN SPACE PROJECT – NOT EASY ROCK’N’ROLL (ABC); THE KILLING SEASON (ABC) and PRISON SONGS (SBS). Also announced today were nominations for the AACTA Award for Best Visual Effects or Animation: AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON; MAD MAX: FURY ROAD; PAN; and TED2. The AACTA Awards will be presented over two major events at The Star Event Centre in Sydney, home of the AACTA Awards: the 5th AACTA Awards presented by Presto | Industry Dinner presented by Blue Post (30 November); and the 5th AACTA Awards Ceremony & Official After Party presented by Presto (9 December), which will also be telecast on Channel 7. General public and industry tickets are now on sale via the AACTA website: www.aacta.org FEATURE FILM NOMINEES Competition across the feature film categories for the 5th AACTA Awards presented by Presto is fierce. The top six most nominated feature films are: THE DRESSMAKER, which releases nationally today, leading with 12 nominations; MAD MAX: FURY ROAD with 11 nominations; LAST CAB TO DARWIN with eight nominations; HOLDING THE MAN with six nominations; and CUT SNAKE and PAPER PLANES, each receiving five nominations. The five films vying for the coveted AACTA Award for Best Film Presented by Presto are: THE DRESSMAKER; HOLDING THE MAN; LAST CAB TO DARWIN; MAD MAX: FURY ROAD; and PAPER PLANES. Four of these five films also see nominations for Best Direction Presented by Hyundai Genesis going to: Jocelyn Moorhouse (THE DRESSMAKER); Neil Armfield (HOLDING THE MAN); Jeremy Sims (LAST CAB TO DARWIN); and George Miller (MAD MAX: FURY ROAD). The directors behind the films nominated for Best Film Presented by Presto are no strangers to Australia’s top screen Awards, making for robust competition. Joceyln Moorhouse holds AFI Awards for MURIEL’S WEDDING and PROOF. HOLDING THE MAN director Neil Armfield won an AFI Award for Best Screenplay – Adapted for CANDY. Robert Connolly holds four AFI Awards, including Best Film for ROMULUS, MY FATHER. AFI Award-winning director George Miller, who won an Oscar and BAFTA Award for HAPPY FEET and was nominated by both for BABE, returns with MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, three decades after receiving his very first AFI Award for MAD MAX 2: THE ROAD WARRIOR. LAST CAB TO DARWIN director Jeremy Sims has a past AFI nomination for direction for BENEATH HILL 60, whilst his acting career earned him an AFI Award in 1999 for AFTERSHOCKS. The category of Best Lead Actor sees Michael Caton nominated for his performance in LAST CAB TO DARWIN, 18 years after his popular portrayal of Darryl Kerrigan in THE CASTLE, for which he received his last AFI nomination. Fellow past nominees receiving a nomination for Best Lead Actor today are Ryan Corr (HOLDING THE MAN) and Sullivan Stapleton (CUT SNAKE), along with past AACTA Award winner Patrick Brammall (RUBEN GUTHRIE). Anticipation around who will win the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress is high, with local talent pitted against international performers. Kate Winslet, whose accolades include Oscar, BAFTA, EMMY and Golden Globe wins, today received a nomination for her performance in THE DRESSMAKER, alongside fellow Oscar winner Charlize Theron, for her performance as Imperator Furiosa in MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. Also nominated are Robyn Butler (NOW ADD HONEY), whose past AFI and AACTA Award nominations include two for performance, and Ningali Lawford-Wolf (LAST CAB TO DARWIN), today receiving her first nomination. The AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor also sees a first-time nomination for Mark Coles Smith (LAST CAB TO DARWIN), competing alongside seasoned and awarded performers Alex Dimitriades (RUBEN GUTHRIE), Anthony LaPaglia (HOLDING THE MAN) and Hugo Weaving (THE DRESSMAKER), whose first AFI Award was for PROOF, also under the direction of Jocelyn Moorhouse, in 1991. THE DRESSMAKER also sees two nominations in the category of Best Supporting Actress, with a nomination for Judy Davis, whose illustrious career includes AACTA, BAFTA, EMMY and Golden Globe Awards as well as two Oscar nominations, and Sarah Snook, who won Best Lead Actress for PREDESTINATION last year. They compete alongside first-time nominee Emma Hamilton (LAST CAB TO DARWIN, the only film to receive a nomination in every acting category) and past AACTA winner Deborah Mailman (PAPER PLANES). Both Mailman and Snook also compete for Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama (for REDFERN NOW – PROMISE ME and THE SECRET RIVER respectively, both ABC). A number of Australia’s most highly acclaimed practitioners are also nominated for their work off- screen, including the following, to name just a few: Oscar and BAFTA Award winning cinematographer John Seale ASC ACS (MAD MAX: FURY ROAD), best known for his work on THE ENGLISH PATIENT and COLD MOUNTAIN, and fellow cinematographer Oscar and BAFTA nominated Donald M. McAlpine ACS ASC (THE DRESSMAKER), also a past recipient of the AACTA Raymond Longford Award; Oscar, BAFTA and EMMY Award winning costume designer Jenny Beavan (MAD MAX: FURY ROAD), whose award- winning work includes A ROOM WITH A VIEW and GOSFORD PARK; Oscar nominee editor Jill Bilcock ACE ASE (THE DRESSMAKER); and BAFTA winning, Oscar nominated composer David Hirschfelder (THE DRESSMAKER) who is best known for his work on SHINE, ELIZABETH and STRICTLY BALLROOM. TELEVISION NOMINEES A total of 31 television productions received nominations for the 5th AACTA Awards presented by Presto. Overall, competition across the television categories is marked by a healthy mix of new and returning productions, shared across all networks. Leading the television nominations count is PETER ALLEN – NOT THE BOY NEXT DOOR (Seven Network) with 10 nominations, followed by DEADLINE GALLIPOLI (FOXTEL - Showcase) and THE SECRET RIVER (ABC) each receiving eight nominations, closely followed by REDFERN NOW – PROMISE ME (ABC) with seven nominations. BANISHED (FOXTEL - BBC First) rounds out the top five most nominated productions – it received five nominations. Despite just one new drama competing for Best Television Drama Series, GLITCH (ABC), this year’s AACTA Awards see a first-time nomination in this category for returning series of both MISS FISHER’S MURDER MYSTERIES SERIES 3 (ABC) and LOVE CHILD SERIES 2 (Nine Network). A past nominee, WENTWORTH SERIES 3 (FOXTEL - SoHo) is again nominated for this coveted Award (following a nomination for the 3rd AACTA Awards). First-time nominee for the AACTA Award for Best Reality Television Series REAL HOUSEWIVES OF MELBOURNE SEASON 2 (FOXTEL - Arena) marks an exciting new addition in the race for this hotly contested Award, with strong competition from the Nine Network’s THE VOICE AUSTRALIA (4th AACTA Awards winner), Network Seven’s MY KITCHEN RULES 6 and THE X FACTOR (both past nominees), and Network Ten’s MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA (which won at the 3rd AACTA Awards). Competition within the performance categories is tightly contested between the Seven Network’s PETER ALLEN – NOT THE BOY NEXT DOOR, and the ABC’s REDFERN NOW - PROMISE ME and THE SECRET RIVER, with each receiving three performance nominations. The AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama sees first-time nominations for performance for all four nominees. Newcomer Joel Jackson - who holds just three on-screen acting credits at this, the beginning of his career - received two nominations; one for PETER ALLEN – NOT THE BOY NEXT DOOR (Seven Network), and the other for DEADLINE GALLIPOLI (FOXTEL - Showcase). Fellow nominees are Wayne Blair for the ABC’s REDFERN NOW – PROMISE ME (who holds an AACTA Award for Best Direction for THE SAPPHIRES) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen for THE SECRET RIVER (ABC). Three of the nominees competing for Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama are former AFI or AACTA Award winners; Deborah Mailman (REDFERN NOW - PROMISE ME), Sarah Snook (THE SECRET RIVER), both ABC, and Pamela Rabe (WENTWORTH SERIES 3 – FOXTEL - SoHo), whose first and only AFI Award was 18 years ago for THE WELL.